Dry closet



(No Model.)

L-n s vrmn.

No. 352,157. I

3 sheets-s eet 2.

DRY CLOSET. v Pate 11ted-Nov. 9, 1886.

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, 7:0 G k W 1 f H 5 L l nvenfii am T I T smlwm N PETERS.Phaw-Limographer, Wuhin tun. v.1;

' (No Model I 3SheetsSheet 3.

I. D. SMEAD.

DRY CLOSET.

Patented Nov. 9,1886.

v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC DJSMEA'D, on TOLEDO, OHIO.

DRY CLOSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,157, dated November9, 1886.

I Application filed April 23, 1886. Serial No. 199,951. (No model.) 7

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC D. SMEAD, of Toledo, in the county of Lucasand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful 10 sists,primarily, in constructing the vault and the hoppers or seats and theirsupports of fire-proof materials, and in such manner that the desiccateddeposits can be burned without removal from the vault, and withoutendangering the building; and, second, it consists in providing meansby'which the air that passes through the vault can be drawn direct fromthe outside of the building or from within the building, as may bepreferred, all as hereinafter'more fully set forth.

Figures 1 and 2 are transverse vertical sections of a portion of abuilding,showing my improvements applied thereto; and Figs. 3 ande' aretransverse vertical sections of my 2 5 improved hopper in position inrelation to the.

vault, and Fig. 5 a perspective viewof the hopper and supporting-plateshown detached.

As described in my Patent No. 314,884., the air was drawn from thevarious rooms within 0 the building into and through the vault, for

the purpose of desicoating or drying .up' the fecal deposits, which werethen to be removed.

from time to time, as occasion might require. I have found by experimentthat this removal 5 is unnecessary, and that a'better plan is to burnthese deposits where they lie in the vault,

and toaccomplish this result, or to enable it to be done without dangerof setting fire to the building, I make the vault and the hop- 40 pers,with their support, fire-proof.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, I represents the exhaust shaft or flue,which should extend through or above the roofof the building, as isusual, and D represents the vault of the 4,5 dry-closet, having a largeopening connecting it with the exhaust at one end, and its opposite endwith the foul-air room A, into which the air is drawn from all the roomsin the building, the same as in my former patent.

E is located directly over the vault, but instead of the wooden floorand seats before used I cover the vault D with a series of iron plates,0, fitted together so as to be air-tight, and serve as a floor orsupport for the hoppers J, which are securely bolted thereto, as shownin Fig. 1, each plate 0 being of course provided with a suitable openingat the point where the hopper is to be set, this being shown moreclearly in Fig. 3. Ialso provide acast-iron hopper, J, with a flange orcars at its base for securing it to the plate 0, and near its upper endwith a flange, f, upon which is secured a wooden seat,-g, as shown inFigs. 3 and 91. On

upon which a projection, 0, of the cover G rests when the cover israised, the parts i and 0 thus serving as a stop to hold the cover fromfalling' over back when raised. The cover G is made in the general formshown in Figs. 3 and 4, and is provided with a depending flange, l,which projects down into the top of the hopper past the edge of thewooden seat 9, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the whole'interiorsurface exposed shall be of metal only. At its front side the cover G isprovided with a handle, h, by which it can be readily opened and closed,this handle preferably being formed of two vertical lugs or cars, with across-bar from one to the other, the handles thus being rigid and notliable to make a noise by falling over on the cover. From the rear ofthe cover project two arms, 2, on the rear ends of which are formed theprojections 0, before mentioned, which act as stops, the arms t servingalso to form part of the hinge joint i. It is obvious that the flange fmay be dipensed with, if the seat be made to rest on the top of thehopper, as shown, two or three screws being used to hold it in placeinstead; but I prefer to use the flange or.1ugs, as it forms a moresubstantial structure. The closet-room is provided with a series ofthese hoppers, J, arranged as shown in Fig. 1, they being secured to themetal plates 50 As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the closet-room a, which, asshown in Fig. 3, rest at each side too upon the side walls, T T, of thevault D, the series of metal plates 0 thus constituting the floor of theclosetroom, and with the metal hoppers J forming a fire-proof cover tothe vault D, and as the walls T are of brick or stone it will be seenthat there is nothing about them liable to burn. a

As the deposits in the vault D become thoroughly desiccated or dried ina short time, instead of removing them as heretofore, it is onlynecessary to set fire to them as they lie in the vault, when they willall be consumed in a brief period, the smoke and fumes passing off upthe shaft I, as indicated in Fig. 1.

Instead of using the metal plates 0, the top of the vault may be archedof brick or stone, as shown in Fig. 4, and accomplish the same result.In this case a floor, m, may be laid over it, either of wood, cement, orstone, as may be preferred, and, if desired, a wooden floor may be laidover the metal plates 0,- but it is preferred not to use wood at all,the surface of the metal plates being ribbed or otherwise roughened toprevent slipping.

One of the hoppers and its supporting-plate is shown detached and inperspective in Fig. 5, for the purpose of showing the same more fully.

In my former patent the air passing through the vault was drawn whollyfrom within the building; but I sometimes find it desirable, for variousreasons, to so arrange as to take air direct from the outside of thebuilding into and through the vault. To do this, it is only necessary tomake an opening, 0, through the outer wall, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,and provide the same with the ordinary screen or metal guards, toprevent the entrance of persons or animals. This is more especiallydesirable in the warm or summer season,-and to insure the necessarydraft in the shaft I at such times, I locate in the base of the shaft asmall heating-furnace H, as shown in Fig. 1, so that by keeping a firein the same a strong current up the shaft is created, thus causing alarge volume of air to enter through the opening O and pass through thevault D, and thence up the shaft I. For convenience, the mouth or doorsof the furnace H are arranged to project through the wall of the shaft1, so as to be accessible from the adjoining room for supplying it withfuel and removing ashes. Any other kind of heater may be used instead,wherever convenient or available.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a rotary fan, N, arranged at the opening from thevault D into the shaft I, with an engine, I, for driving the same, whichmay be used, when desired, for creating a draft.

By providing the foul-air room A. with doors b, which can be closed atwill, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to cutoff communication with the roomsabove, and opening the door a, the air can be taken entirely from theoutside. By closing the door a and opening the doors I) the air can betaken entirely from within the build ing, and by this arrangement itwill be seen that the air may be taken from the inside or outside atpleasure, and be changed whenever desired.

One great advantage of burning the deposits in the vault is that itdestroys all germs of every kind, and cleans out and purifies the vaultmost effectually.

It will readily be understood that the strong draft up the flue or shaftI will prevent the flame or smoke from passing up the hoppers J to anyconsiderable extent, the tendency being rather for air to be drawn downthrough them, and that so long as the vault proper is fire-proof theburning of the deposits in the vault can be carried on with safety andwithout any liability of the smoke or fumes entering the rooms. Thedoors a and b will preferably be made of metal also.

I am aware that it has been proposed to place a metal box with a grateattached in the ordinary privy, as shown in Patent No. 264,568,and alsothat apatent has been granted for a commode having a lamp arrangedtherein for the purpose of drying and deodorizing the contents thereof;but these devices arcinapplicable in the manner in which my invention isdesigned to be used, and I make no claim to the devices or constructionshown in said patents or either of them; but

What I do claim as my invention is- 1. The combination,in a building,ofa foulair-gathering-room, A, provided with a door or doors, I), forcutting off communication with the rooms of the] building, the vault D,connected to the ventilating-shaft I, and the direct air-inlet 0,provided with a door, a,

said parts being arranged to operate substantially as described, wherebythe air for supplying the current through the vault can be taken fromwithin or without the building at pleasure.

2. The combination,in a building,of a vault, D, for a dry closet, anair-inlet, G, at one end for the admission of air from the exterior ofthe building, an exhaust or ventilating shaft connected to the vault atits opposite end, and a fan, N, or equivalent means for creating a draftthrough the vault and shaft when the building is not heated,substantially as set forth.

3. In combination, the vault D, having an air-inlet, C, at one end forthe admission of air from the exterior of the building, an exhaust orventilating shaft, I, connected to the vault at its opposite end, and afurnace or heater, H, located within the shaft and having its doorsarranged to be accessible from the exterior of the shaft,substantiallyas shown and described.

4. The vault D for a dry eloset,covered with the metallic plates 0, orequivalent fire-proof material, in combination with the metallic hopperJ, having a wooden seat secured there- I to and provided with themetallic cover G, ranged to fit within the mouth of the hophaving aflange, l, arranged-to fit within the per, substantially as and for thepurpose set mouth of the hopper, substantially as and for forth. thepurpose set forth.

' 5 5. The hopper J, having the wooden seat 9 Witnesses:

secured thereto, in combination-with the me- J. A. SMEAD, tallic coverG, provided with the flange Z, ar- PRICE MCKINNEY.

ISAAC D. SMEAD.

